Soap Making for the Beginner, Part II

Reader Contribution by Sarah Hart Boone
Updated on April 25, 2022
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Last week you gathered your materials and supplies. This week you can finally make your soap!

First, I’d like to remind you about safety. This is a project that uses a very dangerous material. Lye is sold in the drain cleaner department with lots of other nasty chemicals because it heats up to a very high temperature when it gets wet and literally burns through the stuff clogging your pipes. You do not want to get it on your body or in your mouth or eyes. You should plan on wearing gloves and eye protection when you are around the lye and make sure it is not anywhere where a child or pet can get near it. Store the unused lye in a safe spot with other dangerous household chemicals. You will only be using a few tablespoons of lye for this recipe. While caution needs to be exercised you will not have a giant cauldron of boiling lye to work with. This is another reason why this is a good batch for the beginner.

Step 1

Measure the oils. Use a small lightweight bowl to measure each oil and add it to the cooking pot. (This should be a no-stick or stainless steel pot.) Measure and pour each oil separately. If you are not sure how high your scale goes, divide the olive oil into two. Each time you put the empty bowl on the scale make sure to clear the scale so that it starts at zero before you add anything. Wipe the bowl clean between oils. Measure 13 ounces of corn oil, 23 ounces of olive oil, and 2 sticks of cocoa butter (2 ounces total.) Slice up the cocoa butter first for quicker melting. Put the pan containing the oil on the stove to wait for the next step.

Step 2

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